A minister, possibly the Chancellor, holds out a large magnifying glass in his right and and gestures with his left hand. He is wearing a long coat and a long powdered wig. He addresses John Bull: Look through this glass Mr Bull and behold your future prosperity, looking towards a cloud within which the future is foretold. In the cloud John Bull is depicted in seven different scenarios: drinking unadulterated porter, free from taxes, smoking Trinidad tobacco, talking French & grown quite a fine gentleman, eating cinnamon from Ceylon, free from care, and with bread at 6d the quarter loaf. John Bull says: 'what be all those people I see. Mercy on us so many good things will be more than I can bear'. His companion replies: 'Look through this glass Mr. Bull & behold your future prosperity, it magnifies but very little I assure you'.
Alternative Title:
John Bull peeping into futurity
Description:
Title etched below image., Date of publication inferred from dates given in the British Museum catalogue for other prints after Woodward that were likewise etched and published by Roberts. Cf. Nos. 9729, 9850, and 9965 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 8., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Not in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires.
Publisher:
Pubd. by P. Roberts, 28 Middle Row, Holborn
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Eldon, John Scott, Earl of, 1751-1838
Subject (Topic):
National characteristics, English, Colonies, John Bull (Symbolic character), Hand lenses, and Ethnic stereotypes
A companion plate to Le Départ (British Museum satire no. 12362), satirizing the haste of the English to visit France in 1814 and their gluttony and bad dressing. The Frenchman who cooks a cat is a subject of English caricatures on the favourite theme of the beggarly Frenchman and well-fed Englishman. In this print. "A lean Englishman strides on to the quayside from an (invisible) gangway leading to the deck of a packet, which is seen below (right), covered with the heads of passengers, looking eagerly upwards. The furled sails and rigging are on the extreme right; a dove holding an olive-branch sits on a spar. A jovial French cook leads the Englishman, who grasps his left wrist; he points to a doorway on the extreme left, below the sign 'Au Bien Venu'. He holds the white cotton night-cap which was the cap of the French cook, but is not foppish as in English caricature, but manly and sturdy. The traveller is a grotesque figure wearing a hat shaped like a flower-pot, [this hat appears in almost all satires on English costumes in Paris, c. 1814; it is worn by a man dressed à l'Anglais in No. 53 of the 'Bon Genre Series' (? 1813): 'Cheveux à Cherubin. Chapeau en pot à fleurs. Redingote en Robe de Chambre'; cf. J.-P. de Bérenger, 'Les Boxeurs', 1814: Quoique leurs chapeaux sont bien laids / Goddam! moi j'aime les Anglais] long tail-coat, wrinkled breeches, and long ill-fitting gaiters on very thin legs. His profile has an absurdly heavy chin (cf. British Museum no. 12364), and he registers eager expectation. On a flap projecting from a window beside the door are peaches, grapes, pears, &c. Within a courtyard a second cook leans from an attic window, knife in hand, to catch a cat by the tail, one of several scampering from the ridge-pole."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from caption below image., Description from impression in the British Museum catalogue., Lettered "Déposé" below image left., Attributed to printmaker Godisart de Cari and publisher Martinet. See British Museum catalogue., This plate was deposited by Martinet on 1 February 1815, although his name is not actually lettered on the plate. It is a pair to 'Le départ' (British Museum number 1868,0822.7249)., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark, with loss of text at lower left and portions of the image at the corners: irregular sheet 18.8 x 23 cm.
Publisher:
Chez Martinet
Subject (Geographic):
France and France.
Subject (Topic):
History, Foreign public opinion, National characteristics, English, National characteristics, French, Cats, Cooks, Doves, Eating & drinking, Ethnic stereotypes, Gluttony, and Mail steamers
"The Englishman, grossly obese, walks from the door of the inn (left) supporting his paunch on a wheelbarrow which the cook of British Museum satire no. 12361 helps to drag, exhausted by the effort, and mopping his face with his cap. A plank leads from the quayside to a packet-boat, the stern of which appears below, empty except for one expectant sailor. Another sailor's hand appears by the plank, ready to assist the embarkation. The sign of the inn is not depicted, the window flap hangs down. The second cook stands in the courtyard, offering food to a gorged cat on the roof."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Dimensions from impression in the British Museum catalogue., Lettered "Déposé" below image left., Attributed to printmaker Godisart de Cari and publisher Martinet. See British Museum catalogue., This plate was deposited by Martinet on 12 Novemberr 1814, before its pendant 'L'Arrivée' (1868,0808.7249) which logically precedes it. Martinet's name is not actually lettered on the plate., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark, with loss of text at lower left; corners trimmed: 19 x 23.3 cm.
Publisher:
Chez Martinet
Subject (Geographic):
France and France.
Subject (Topic):
History, Foreign public opinion, National characteristics, English, National characteristics, French, Cats, Cooks, Eating & drinking, Ethnic stereotypes, Gluttony, Mail steamers, and Obesity
"John Bull (left) and a Frenchman (right) sit on two chairs; each scowls over his shoulder at the other. The Englishman is stout and plainly dressed, his hair is short and without powder, he wears top-boots. In his right hand he holds a foaming tankard which rests on his knee; in his left is a gnarled stick. The Frenchman is thin, wears a pigtail queue, ruffled shirt and laced waistcoat. He clutches in both hands a bowl in which is a spoon, evidently the soup-meagre of English caricature. Each man has a dog under his chair, and the beasts snarl at each other. The English dog is some sort of mastiff; his collar is inscribed "T. Crus[ty]"; the French dog is of greyhound type. Over John Bull's head is engraved "You be D------m'd"; over the Frenchman's, "Vous etes une Bete"."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Lettering attributed to James Gillray. See British Museum online catalogue., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character), National characteristics, English, and National characteristics, French
"A more elaborate version of British Museum satire no. 5611 drawn with more freedom. A joint of beef hangs on the wall behind John Bull; a bundle of frogs behind the Frenchman. The Frenchman holds an open snuff-box instead of a bowl of soup; a laced hat is under his arm; he wears a bag-wig. John Bull's tankard is inscribed "John Bull the Buttock of Beef. . ." Beneath the design is etched: "With Porter Roast Beef & Plumb Pudding well cram'd, Jack English declares that Monsr may be D------d. The Soup Meagre Frenchman such Language dont suit, So he Grins Indignation & calls him a Brute.""--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Approximate date of publication from British Museum online catalogue., Another publication line, "Pubd. by J. Aitken, No. 14 Castle Street, London," has been nearly obliterated at bottom of plate by several etched lines forming the lower border., and Sheet trimmed within plate mark.
Publisher:
Pubd. by H. Humphrey, St. James Street
Subject (Topic):
John Bull (Symbolic character), National characteristics, English, and National characteristics, French
